Jes­samyn Hope is the author of the nov­el Safe­keep­ing, win­ner of the J.I. Segal Award and a final­ist for both the Rib­alow Prize and the Pater­son Fic­tion Prize. Her mem­oirs and short sto­ries — orig­i­nal­ly pub­lished in Ploughshares, The Com­mon, and else­where — have received two Push­cart Prize hon­or­able men­tions, been named a Best Amer­i­can Notable Essay, and have been anthol­o­gized in Best Cana­di­an Essays, The Broad­view Anthol­o­gy of Expos­i­to­ry Prose, and The New Spice Box: Con­tem­po­rary Jew­ish Writ­ing. She grew up in Mon­tre­al, has long lived in New York City, and is spend­ing the year in Tel Aviv.